Every Wednesday we ask our Brain Game contestants one interesting, thought-provoking or just plain quirky question. Their answers will be published anonymously in Young Post. Then readers can vote for their FAVOURITE answer. We will eliminate the contestant with the LEAST votes every week until we have a winner.

The ultimate Brain Game winner will receive a Polaroid Socialmatic Camera worth US$299. Votes close at midnight on Sunday.

The contestants

Contestant 1

Definitely the second world war. Affecting hundreds of millions of people, it was the most widespread conflict in history. In Asia, the focus was mainly on Japan’s invasion of China, where civilians were brutally murdered. Other problems in China included heavy grain taxes which created a severe famine during which some people resorted to cannibalism.

In Europe, more than half of the Jewish population in Germany was killed. The German economy had suffered severe setbacks after the first world war, and the Nazis simply took out their anger on the Jews, promoting racism and stripping Jewish people of their citizenship and civil rights. It is truly heartbreaking to see people hurting one another.

Contestant 2

The Communist Party of China’s (CPC) rise to power. Through political reforms, especially the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong may have caused the deaths of as many as 78 million people – that’s more people than Hitler killed. If the Holocaust was daunting and inhumane, Mao’s “massacre” of his fellow Chinese was simply “insane”.

Now we are deprived of a democratic government. Our government teams up with businesses and rural strongmen. Our elected lawmakers, who represent tens of thousands of people, are challenged, and all because of the CPC!

Contestant 3

Religion is the positive outcome of our natural desire for purpose and connection. But throughout history, institutionalised religion has prevented scientific progress.

If possible, I would erase the spread of Christianity during the Dark Ages, from the year 500 to 1500, when the Catholic Church wielded absolute power over developments in science.

For instance, Galileo’s 1615 discovery that the Earth orbits the sun was rejected by the Vatican for being heretical. It took more than 300 years for the church to admit that they had committed a terrible mistake. Without Christianity, we would be in a much better state today.

Contestant 4

I would erase the Stone Age. Yes, right from the start. Why? As the Chinese saying goes: “The wisest person would abandon his wit.” Then you would return to a simple and basic life, without any tarnished thoughts like being the king of the world.

If I could stifle technology at its beginning, which would mean erasing the Stone Age, there wouldn’t be global problems that we blame on technological development, such as the toxic gas that was invented and used in Hitler’s genocide, or Einstein’s discovery that led to the atomic bomb. Without technology to fuel anyone’s ambition, humans would surely be happy and live in peace forever.

Contestant 5

I’d erase the Kashmir conflict that began in 1947. In that year, when India and Pakistan separated, the ruler of Kashmir chose to keep the region independent.

However, since Kashmir is on the border between India and Pakistan, it caused a big dispute between the two countries that continues even today. It has stirred unrest not just between Indians and Pakistanis, but among the people in Kashmir.

The conflict has led to the deaths of hundreds of Indian and Pakistani soldiers as well as innocent people in the region. If the ruler of Kashmir officially chose one side, then these drastic consequences wouldn’t have taken place. Another war is the last thing the world needs!

Comments

1 comment

The reason why the CPC was able to come to power was because the GMD was itself undemocratic, repressive, and horrendously corrupt. Sure, the CPC is not totally saint-like, but that person has been totally ignorant about the history of China.